DTI: RELOADED
by DigitalCorp
Summary: After the success of DSI: RELOADED and Digimon World Tour, DigitalCorp goes back to where it all began and revisits the introduction of Greg Logan. Now with more music and more content than ever.
1. Introduction

_Digimon Tamers International: RELOADED_

Written by Greg Palmer

 _Digimon Tamers, Digimon Adventure 02_ , etc. ©1999-2011, 2018 Toei Animation, Akayoshi Hongo, etc.

All Rights Reserved

* * *

[The views and opinions expressed in this introduction do not necessarily reflect those of the management... or even the actors themselves.]

* * *

Introduction

by Douglas J. Erholtz

Hi again. You probably know who I am, and if you don't, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Surprisingly, I'm still getting work. I'm in _tri.,_ just not as T.K. But I have recycled my "adult narrator all along T.K." voice for Daigo. To be fair, Lara's not in it, either. She's got a Union card, and this is a non-Union project.

What you're about to experience is a reboot of the fanfic that launched the career of DigitalCorp on this website. He's grown a lot as a writer, and after completing the success that was Digimon World Tour (over 13,000+ views!), he decided to reboot Digimon Savers International, and now, he's going all the way back to the beginning.

This rewrite will address two major issues with the original:

Yes, Magnamon is _not_ the natural Ultimate-level form of Veemon. That is actually Paildramon. This will be fixed.

Yes, Ryo was involved a lot more before he just showed up in episode 46, all Biomerged and everything. When you think Ryo, you're going to be thinking Justin Timberlake. In other words, a douche.

This DSI will be easier to read and more streamlined. First off, no more separate files for MusicBreaks. They'll be integrated right into the chapters. Songs may be added as time goes on for dramatic purposes, and not just from the time period. You know how anime theme songs sometimes don't have anything to do with the show itself? At least, that's the case in Japan. If a song makes it big on the charts, you might hear it here. Now, don't get me wrong, our characters are not going to just break into song at the drop of a hat, for no reason.

In addition, some questionable dialogue may be removed, changed, or even added. Also, while the series will follow the English dub and will attempt to stay faithful to the original dialogue written, a line may be changed if necessary. Of course, the writer can't reveal all his secrets, now can he?

Speaking from personal experience, this is probably one of the hardest and most rewarding projects I've participated in, as were the other two. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Erholtz out.

* * *

A Statement

by Edward Jordan-Phillips

Hello. My name is Ed Jordan-Phillips. I was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. Yes, I am Caucasian, and I am African. I was cast for this role in Digimon Tamers International because having a Brit or Aussie character was considered cliché by the head writer. It seems that the rewrite of this fanfic is taking place in very interesting times for my country. The current President of the United States has proceeded to call my continent- apologies in advance for the language - a "shithole". This I will not condone.

Mr. President, South Africa has given a lot to your country. South African Lindsay Steventon developed the world's first software that has an image-based user interface enabling expert non-literate trackers to record complex geo-referenced observations on animal behaviour. It's been used to monitor gorillas in the Congo, snow leopards in the Himalayas, butterflies in Switzerland, the Sumatran rhino in Borneo, jaguars in Costa Rica, birds in the Amazon, wild horses in Mongolia, dolphins in California, marine turtles in the Pacific and whales in Antarctica. While working at Soweto's Baragwanath Hospital in 1965, South Africa's Dr Selig Percy Amoils unveiled the Amoils Cryo Pencil, which is the world's first surgical tool that uses extreme cold (nitrous oxide) to destroy unwanted tissue. Dr. Amoils' pencil has made retinal detachment surgery and cataract extraction simple and safe. When the Americans landed on the moon in 1969, Neil Armstrong and his team took a bit of South Africa with them - Pratley Putty - an insulator and adhesive agent developed by South African George Pratley in the 1960s. The exceptionally strong substance was used to keep parts of Apollo 11's landing vehicle stuck together and is the only South African product to have ever gone to the moon. Pratley Putty is used today in applications ranging from sealing work to gluing wood and metal together. Finally, in 2005, University of Johannesburg Physicist, Professor Vivian Alberts, developed solar power technology that uses a micro-thin metallic film instead of the much thicker and considerably more expensive silicon-based solar photovoltaic cells. The technology has made solar electricity in South Africa, and arguably the world, five times cheaper.

Without Africa, you wouldn't have rechargeable batteries for your phone. Most of the cobalt comes from the Congo. You wouldn't have coffee, as that came from Ethiopia. The Ishango bone may be the oldest table of prime numbers, and it was found on the border between Uganda and Zaire.

So before you start calling out our entire continent, think about what you wouldn't have if we didn't exist.

* * *

A Statement

by Dave Wittenberg

Hello. I'm Dave Wittenberg, and I'm the voice of Henry Wong and Ebonwumon in this fanfic. While I claim Boston as my hometown, I was actually born in a very nice hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa; and not in the "shithole" you profess my country to be, President Trump.

I stand behind my birthplace and all the other countries in the great continent of Africa.


	2. OP1: Hangin' on a Heart Attack

_Digimon Tamers International: RELOADED_

Written by Greg Palmer

 _Digimon Tamers, Digimon Adventure 02_ , etc. ©1999-2011, 2018 Toei Animation, Akayoshi Hongo, etc.

All Rights Reserved

* * *

Opening Sequence 1 Theme:

"Hanging on a Heart Attack"

Written by Holly Knight & Mike Chapman

Japanese Version Arranged by Kine Naoto & Yuasa Kouichi

English Version Arranged by Jasan Radford

Japanese Lyrics by Michihiko Ohta

Japanese Version Performed by Ayumi Miyazaki & Fumiko Orikasa  
English Version Performed by Andrew Rannells & Melissa Fahn

* * *

 _As the music starts up, the sequence starts with a map of the world. Suddenly, three D-Arcs appear attached to three hands. As the camera scrolls down, we find they belong not to the Primary Colors (Takato, Henry, and Rika), but to our other three heroes: Greg, Ed, and Anya (with Greg right in front, Ed on the left of him, Anya on the right of him). Suddenly, we zoom into Greg's Digivice and find the logo._

 _Andrew:_

 _ **AHHHHH-HAAAA!**_

 _We then move into the Digital World where Greg meets Veemon. In the distance, the two (and the viewer) can see the original Shinjuku Tamers, with flag and all. We zoom in to confirm as much. The human and Digimon make fast friends with the group, but it isn't long before Greg Armor Digivolves Veemon to Raidramon and the two are off. Along the way, they meet Anya and Lalamon. Lalamon floats around Anya, who subtly nods her head. They stop in at a cafe in Fortuneteller Village, where Ed lifts up his fedora long enough to grin at the camera._

 _Andrew:_

 _ **Can you ride the rhythm of this human wave?  
Caught up in the music and the space you save**_

 _ **Caught up in the magic of it  
Caught up in the madness.**_

 _Melissa:_

 _ **Sometimes you scare yourself  
You're so strong  
You're so tough. **_

_The entire group meets up again, but it seems extremely short-lived as windstorms and tornadoes sweep our heroes in every which direction. Greg manages to get a hold of Veemon, but Takato and Guilmon aren't as lucky. And it's too bad because Beelzemon is riding along the area on his motorcycle on a killing spree. He gives the camera a menacing grin. We also run into Ryo, who is just standing there relaxed with his hands behind his head and a grin on his face, before Cyberdramon beckons him to continue finding the Digimon's ultimate opponent. Rika doesn't seem to get along with him._

 _Andrew:_

 _ **Can you feel the fire pumping through your veins?  
You try to get up and here it comes again**_

 _ **Right down to the basics of it  
Right down to the wire.**_

 _We get shots of all the main Tamers Digi-Modifying their Digimon and getting ready for battle. Then, we see various battle footage of ExVeemon, Sunflowmon, Firamon, Rapidmon, Taomon, and WarGrowlmon. [In a later version of this same open, we'll later see Flaremon, Paildramon, Lilamon, Gallantmon, MegaGargomon, and Sakuyamon.] The action is fast and furious as Kazu and Kenta try to stay out of the way, Jeri becomes emotionally shattered, and Suzie... well, she's just her._

 _Andrew/Melissa:_

 _ **Well, if you feel you're hanging on a heart attack  
Hold on, come back  
Oh yeah**_

 _Andrew:_

 _ **Well, it's just that easy.**_

 _Andrew/Melissa:_

 _ **And if you feel you're hanging on a heart attack  
Hold on, come back  
Oh yeah**_

 _Andrew:_

 _ **Well, it's just that easy.**_

 _ **AHHHHH-HAAAA!**_

 _Suddenly, we move to the instrumental middle eight as we see some more bits of action. As the music fades out, the entire team comes together. We end with a group shot of all the main Tamers (Takato, Henry, Rika, Greg, Anya, Ed, Kazu, Kenta, Suzie, and Ryo) holding up their D-Arcs while their Digimon are in battle poses._

* * *

Producer :

Hiromi Seki

Story Editor/ Writer in Chief :

Chiaki J. Konaka

Music:

Takanori Arisawa

Music Supervisors:

Chris Horvath

Alan Parsons

Opening Theme:

"Hanging on a Heart Attack"

Written by Holly Knight & Mike Chapman

Japanese Version Arranged by Kine Naoto & Yuasa Kouichi

English Version Arranged by Jasan Radford

Japanese Lyrics by Michihiko Ohta

Japanese Version Performed by Ayumi Miyazaki & Fumiko Orikasa  
English Version Performed by Andrew Rannells & Melissa Fahn

Closing Theme:

"Living a Boy's Adventure Tale"

Written by Pål Waaktaar & Morten Harket

Japanese Lyrics by Ohta Michihiko

Japanese Version Arranged by Kine Naoto & Yuasa Kouichi

English Version Arranged by Jasan Radford

Japanese Version Performed by Taisuke Yamamoto

English Version Performed by Doug Erholtz

Assistant Chief Director:

Tetsuharu Nakamura

Art Directors:  
Tetsuhiro Shimizu

Yukiko Iijima

Character Design:

Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru

Production Design:

Yoshito Watanabe

CG Design:

Shinji Aramaki

Color Supervisor:

Yasue Itasaka

Chief Director:

Yukio Kaizawa

A Production of:

Toei Animation, Inc.

Fuji TV

Buena Vista Studios

Yomiko Advertising

English Version Licensed by:

Toei Animation USA

Studiopolis

Saban Brands

Disney-ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution


	3. Chapter 1: Becoming a Tamer

_Digimon Tamers International: RELOADED_

Written by Greg Palmer

 _Digimon Tamers, Digimon Adventure 02_ , etc. ©1999-2011, 2018 Toei Animation, Akayoshi Hongo, etc.

All Rights Reserved

Chapter 1: Becoming a Tamer

* * *

Greg

Hi. My name is Greg Logan, and I'm a Digimon Tamer. Now don't get the wrong idea. I don't work in a circus or anything like that. It's not that kind of relationship. In fact, it's more of a friendship. My partner's name is Veemon. No, he's not the same Veemon that teamed up with Davis Motomiya in Adventure 02. This one doesn't have a lisp.

It's hard to believe it was 17 years ago that I met him. It seems much longer than that. Still, I remember what happened. I was only 12 years old at the time, a Boy Scout who wasn't too motivated to do much of anything besides surf the Web and watch TV. Yeah, I was a mediaphile back in those days. I fell into the Scouting trap when I was about 8 years old. Thought it was fun, so I asked my folks to sign me up for it. Little did I know how much camping would be involved. This summer, it was no different. I got shipped off to Scout Camp, especially at the insistence of my father. He was almost an Eagle, but he couldn't complete the Swimming Merit Badge. Neither could I.

Anyway, I digress. There I was, at Scout camp, setting up my sleeping bag and everything, feeling homesick for the basic comforts of home. I decided to take a walk, thinking I could talk to myself to pass the time. Those paths going from the troop campsites to the rest of the camp are long. All of a sudden, I spot a cave. I had a little free time between now and dinner, so I decided to explore it. But first, I decided to go to my tent to get my backpack. I packed a water bottle, a flashlight, some snacks... you know, the essentials.

After I packed everything that I thought I'd need up, I left and started exploring the cave. Needless to say, it was dark. I turned on my flashlight and started looking. Not much to see, just some rock figures. As I continued my journey, I saw what appeared to be a faint light show, like the ones you see in Vegas. I chased the light, thinking I'd find something. Unfortunately, I found it, and I felt the ground drop. I was falling into some sort of bizarre light show, it looked almost digital. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed as I fell.

Minutes later, I found myself flat on my back. I felt the gravel fall on my lips. It was actually sand, so I spit it out. I got up and I looked around. I was in a crater. I looked up at the sky. It was still blue, but with strange bits of data in it, and beams of light shooting down. Strange rectangular outlines as well. Of course, I look back down at the dirt and beside me is a ellipsoid-shaped black and white device with a screen, one of those Tamagatchi-type toys. Buried somewhat in the sand was a blue card with a tiny dinosaur roaring inside a letter D. Now of course, I was no idiot. I knew that one of my favorite shows on Fox Kids (back when Fox actually had a Saturday morning lineup, now all the good shows are online) was _Digimon: Digital Monsters_. I knew that what I held in my hand was a Digivice. Yet, I couldn't believe that's what it was. Of course, the thing about me is that I love to play with technology. So, I started pushing buttons, doing various things with it. I even pretended I was my favorite Digidestined, Davis. (Although when you think about it, TK was all right too.) I thrust the Digivice upward and shouted "DIGIARMOR ENERRRRRRRGIZE!" You always hold out the "R" for at least a second when activating the DigiEgg of Courage. I thought it was just because Davis was braver, but looking back now, he was just fitting the dub.

It was fun, for a while. My finger noticed a bare spot, an indentation in the form of a straight line on the side. I looked at it from the side... it was a pretty narrow hole. Then I started looking at the card. Now I was collecting Pokemon cards at the time, and this was no Pokemon card. It had a sort of a barcode on the side, so I scanned the card. At first, nothing happened. Then, it started beeping. About 5 seconds in, the beep started getting faster and faster until it started shooting out white light. "Holy smokes!" I thought. Out of that white light came a dragon-like short humanoid creature colored blue with a tail and a yellow "V" on his forehead. The creature stared at me, and then started running toward me. My eyes widened and I started running.

It's hard running through that sand, but he finally headbutted into my back as I fell. I found myself on my stomach as he climbed on my back and lowered his head in front of mine. "Hi there!" he said cheerfully. It was the same New York accent, but without the lisp. "Uh... hi," I replied uneasily. The monster continued, "My name's Veemon, and you must be my Tamer." "Me?" I asked, surprised. "I thought Davis was your- Tamer!?" He got off my back and just glanced at me curiously. "Davis? Who's Davis?" he asked. I described him. "You know; brown hair, goggles, red fur-lined jacket." I got up and dusted myself off.

Then, I asked him an important question. "Veemon, where am I?" He didn't have to think about that one, and he gave me an answer. "Why, you're in the Digital World," he replied. I couldn't believe it. "This is the Digital World?" I queried in disbelief. "Oh, this isn't all of it," he explained. "There are oceans, forests, cities, all kinds of things. Wow, you must really be new here." "You could say that," I quickly replied. We got out of the crater and started walking along the sand as he started explaining the geography of the Digital World to me. When I started to mention what I had seen through watching the first two seasons of Digimon, he looked confused, but at least he didn't make me feel stupid.

All of a sudden, we spotted a group of people in the distance. They were holding a banner. As we got closer and closer, we could start making out who they were. One of them was wearing a blue hoodie with goggles. He was followed by a red dinosaur-like Digimon. Another boy was a little bit taller, an Asian with black hair, a orange jacket over a gray t-shirt, with brown pants and gray/yellow shoes and white wrist bands. I recognized the bunny-like Digimon on his head. It was Terriermon, one of Willis' partners in the movie. Basically, the Season 2 Digidestined go to America to fight a time-controlling Digimon. I was apathetic, but the boy seemed pretty cool. The one person I really noticed had red hair and a spiky-type ponytail. She also wore a T-shirt with a broken heart on it and blue jeans. Reminded me of one of my babysitters. She was followed around by this human-like furry Digimon, almost like a fox. There were two other guys and a girl with a hand puppet. I kept my eyes on the girl.

Meanwhile, I'm sure they were noticing me.

* * *

Kazu

'Sup? The name's Kazu Shioda, and I'm what you might call a Digimon otaku. That's a Japanese term for an extreme fan. Dude, it's kinda crazy how involved I am. Digimon Adventure 01 and 02? Taped every episode. The video game? ¥999 a month for platinum access, dude. And the card game? Oh man, I am the KING! Got a pretty wicked collection, 500 cards at least.

OK, here's the thing. One of my buddies is this guy named Takato. He's probably just as obsessed, maybe more than me. He's so into it, he drew his own Digimon. He called it Guilmon, and it's this raptor-slash-T-rex type thing. Anyway, one night, he got this strange device, and it scanned his drawing. Turns out he's a Tamer and his Digimon came to life! How cool is that? OK, so he met up with these two other guys. One of them's named Henry, and he's all right. He knows tai chi and all that, but he won't use it unless he has to. His partner's Terriermon, this bunny-type Digimon from "Digimon Adventure 02: Supreme Hurricane Touchdown!/The Golden Digimental", except it's a different one. Then there's this chick Rika. She's really good at the card game, even won a few championships. She's a tough girl, but don't let that fool ya. Her partner's Renamon, and they're kinda like sisters, ya know? My buddy Kenta and I hang out with them a lot. We've even got a new member, Jeri. She's got a few quirks of her own, like that weird hand puppet, but her partner Leomon is awesome! Anyway, this little Digimon Calumon got kidnapped and dragged into the Digital World, so we went after her. Brought a banner and everything. Of course, when we got there, not everything went like it was supposed to, ya know?

We're out in the desert and we're looking for life. All of a sudden, we see this guy with a brown uniform and what looks like a Veemon. I was thinking, "Whoa. This guy must be military." So, I tapped Takato on the shoulder. "Dude," I said, "check that guy out over there." I pointed out in the distance. "That's weird," he answered. "I thought we were the only ones here." "What are you talking about, Takatomon?" Guilmon asked. He had this habit of adding -mon to Takato's name. Takato turned around. "Don't worry about it, boy," he said as he petted the dino on the head.

Rika, as usual, put her own two cents in. "Whoever he is, he better not be looking for trouble," she grumbled, pounding her fist into her palm. The guy got closer and closer until we could hear him shout, "Hey! Over there! Excuse me!" Thing is, he shouted it in English. Now, in Japan, we're pretty much bilingual. Since the Digimon were part-data, they could pick up both languages pretty quickly. Heck, Henry knew Cantonese, too.

* * *

Greg

I got up closer to them until we met up face to face. The girl with the pineapple-type ponytail just glared at me, like I had done something wrong. The dinosaur smelled me out, trying to determine whether I was friend or foe. I got worried, because I had a bad relationship with dogs. I also saw _Jurassic Park_ , so I knew dinosaurs were bad news. Veemon, for some reason, noticed my worry, so he did what he could to protect me. He slapped the dinosaur on the muzzle. I was shocked! I didn't want this to happen. The other humans looked shocked too, especially the one with the goggles. He ran to protect his Digimon, who was growling at us. "Oh boy... Look, I'm really sorry. I really am," I apologized as best I could. Without skipping a beat, I angrily turned to Veemon and hit him upside the head. "What's the matter with you?" I angrily asked him. He just got mad.

* * *

Kazu

Rika knew it. I could tell she was mad, especially after this guy's Digimon slapped Guilmon on the muzzle. So, we got into a huddle and started whispering... in Japanese. "Watashi wa kare ga watashitachi ni meiwaku o ataerudarou shitte imashita. Watashitachiha imakare o nagurubekidesu. [I knew he'd give us trouble. We should beat him up now,]" she angrily whispered. "Sate, chottomatte, Ruki, [Now wait a minute, Rika,]" Henry cut in, "Watashi wa kare no me ni mieru koto ga dekimashita. Kare wa kinchō shite ita, to kare no dejimon wa chōdo kare o hogo shimashita. Wareware wa kare ni ginen no onkei o ataenakereba naranai. [I could see the look in his eyes. He was kind of nervous, and his Digimon was only protecting him. We've gotta give him the benefit of the doubt.]" Rika just rolled her eyes and agreed. "Shikashi, moshi kono hito ga amarini mo tōku ni ikunara, sore wa anata no ue ni arimasu, [But if this guy goes too far, it's all on you,]" she added, poking him in the chest. We broke out of the huddle to see the American. He looked like he was really sorry. "Oh boy... Look, I'm really sorry. I really am," he said. Rika just stared him down. "Anata no dejimon ni ikutsu ka no manā o oshierubeki, [You should teach your Digimon some manners,]" she responded curtly. The American just looked confused.

* * *

Greg

The girl with the spiky ponytail just stared at me and spoke in another language. I could tell she was angry, though. Veemon could tell, too. I looked down to him and asked him what she was saying. Of course, he wasn't in the mood to do me any favors. Who could blame him? So, I went down to his level and apologized. "Veemon... I'm sorry. I know you were just trying to protect me," I said, "It's just that what you did gives people a bad impression." Veemon just looked at me. "I'll try harder," he said. I just smiled at him. "I know that, and I'm sorry." I came up to him and hugged him.

Then, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and it was the Chinese boy with the vest. I got up. "Uh... My name is Greg. I am... an Am-er-i-can," I started slowly, hoping they'd understand. "I kind of figured that out," the boy answered. I was surprised at how natural his English was. "But I thought-" I started, but then I just stopped, taking it all in. I went for a different approach. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. Greg Logan, Troop 282, Boy Scouts of America, from Flower Mound, Texas." I gave the proper Scout salute. The Terriermon on his shoulder just stared at me. "Don't worry about him," the Asian said, "My name's Henry, and this is Terriermon. Nice to meet you." He bowed.

Then, he asked, "So, how did you get that Veemon?" "I don't know," I replied, "I followed a light show in a cave and the next thing I know, I'm here. I scanned this card and Veemon came out." I held up the card and my Digivice. Of course, I looked at the card, and it went blank. "Huh?" I asked. Henry just shrugged.

He took me to the side and explained the whole thing to me, all about Tamers and the Digi-Modify system.

* * *

Kazu

Henry was gone for a long time talking to that American guy. "Hmm... nothing's happened yet," Takato said to himself, "Maybe I should talk to him." Rika didn't like this one bit. "What, and have his Digimon attack you again?" she snapped back. Kenta, who usually didn't do much talking, spoke up. "Rika, if you didn't have Renamon with you and Guilmon was smelling you, you'd be a little freaked out. Right?" She actually thought about it, then just sneered. "No," she replied.

"Rika's swimming in denial," Jeri taunted through her hand puppet. Now, Jeri's usually a pretty quiet kid, so she uses her hand puppet to say things she wouldn't say herself. She got a Leomon as her partner, but she hadn't done much taming.

Later, Henry came back with the American. "Guys, this is Greg from America," he said. Guilmon wasn't too happy to meet him, 'cause he started growling. Takato just stood in front of him and chuckled nervously. "Look, I'm sorry about Veemon hitting your dinosaur. It's just that I saw Jurassic Park and-" Greg apologized.

He offered his hand and Takato took it in a high-five. He just smiled. "It's cool," he said, "I'm Takato and this is Guilmon."

Guilmon just stared at them. "Hmmmm... is there... anyway I can make it up to him?" Greg asked. "E e, anata wa hanarerubekidesu! [Yeah, go away!]" Rika shouted in Japanese.

Greg just looked at her. "I don't know what you just said, but I didn't do anything to you," he shot back. "He's got a point," Renamon added. I went up to the guy and offered my hand. "The name's Kazu." He took my hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Kazu," he said as he smiled, "Henry told me you've got some spare cards. Anybody hungry?"

He took off his backpack and pulled out some rare American snacks. We'd never seen them before, but they were food. Thing to remember is we lost a lot of our supplies when we fell into the Digital World, so this was great. So, we took some of what he offered us. After we ate, we took out our decks and gave him all the extras and cards we didn't want. That's the thing about Americans, we always give them our leftovers and we don't feel guilty about it. He looked so happy, the sucker. Heh heh heh...

* * *

Greg

I knew I was taking a big risk when I offered them my food. After all, I didn't know what I'd be able to find here. I didn't even know if there was food here. All I knew is I had a Digimon and I needed cards. After we ate, everyone took out their decks and helped me build a deck. I ended up getting a few power ups and a few DigiEgg cards (Friendship, Love, Hope, and Sincerity). The Friendship and Hope I got from Henry, but Kazu thought it'd be funny to give me the other two. That's OK, I guess. I like Yolei and TK, too. Well, they call them Miyako and Takeru. I put the cards in the side of my backpack and clipped the D-Arc to my belt.

It was official. I was now a Tamer.


	4. Chapter 2: Rescue Mission

_Digimon Tamers International: RELOADED_

Written by Greg Palmer

 _Digimon Tamers, Digimon Adventure 02_ , etc. ©1999-2011, 2018 Toei Animation, Akayoshi Hongo, etc.

All Rights Reserved

* * *

Chapter 2: Rescue Mission

* * *

Greg

We were walking through the canyons. The spiky-haired girl- by the way, her name's Rika, and if you rearrange the letters, you get Kari- thought she saw some satellites, but it was just a bunch of rock sculptures. They looked really convincing, though. It got dark all of a sudden, so we stopped where we were. Suddenly, Rika spotted something. "We have company," she said. She pointed up, and there was this thing made of fire. "Whoa- the Human Torch," I noted with awe.

Henry pulled out his Digivice and pointed it at the beast, and his profile came up. "That's no Human Torch, that's Meramon! Champion level... his special attack is Magma Blast!" He sounded afraid. I didn't think about it at the moment. "Hey, how'd you do that?" I asked. Before I got an answer, the Digimon attacked. "MAGMA BLAST!" the monster shouted, and he fired magma rocks down at us.

Renamon just shouted, "RUN!" so we did. We got down, and fast! Just then, Leomon jumped up and punched Meramon into a crater, cooling him off. "I hope you're happy," Meramon said, "Go ahead and absorb me now!" Leomon just shook his head as Takato got up and looked down. "We wouldn't have attacked you if you didn't attack us. Did the Devas send you?" he asked.

"Devas? What are those?" I asked Rika. She just rolled her eyes and ignored me. I kept asking around. Finally, I got the answer from Henry. They're twelve Ultimate-level Holy Beast Digimon the group had been fighting for some time.

Later on, we had a meeting with him. Turns out Leomon's punch knocked him to his senses, and he was an all right guy. Takato did some sketches of this small Digimon, Calumon, and one of those Devas. This particular one, Makuramon, looked like a monkey to me. Meramon had no leads, but he mentioned something about going to the real world. I wanted to tell him it wasn't that much, but I decided against it. After all, why smash the dreams of a Digimon made of fire?

We set up camp and tried to catch some Zs. Takato ended up looking at the night "sky". "A shooting star! Oh...this place never ceases to amaze me. And all Meramon dreams of is fighting and getting strong enough to go to the Real World. I wonder why," he said. "Probably because it's different than here," I guessed. "He just can't help it," Henry added.

The two got into a conversation. "Hey, couldn't sleep either?" "No way, not a wink, too wired. How bout you?" Henry asked. "Same thing."

"Well, who wouldn't be wired after coming here?" I asked.

I couldn't help but wonder what was going on back at home, or whether I would even go home again. It was a depressing moment. Of course, I also had something to prove to these people, being outsiders. Turns out they were all from Shinjuku, Tokyo. They were also big Digimon fans, so we kept ourselves busy discussing the adventures of our heroes. It turns out there was a lot Saban cut out of the original series, like Ken actually kicking a puppy and TK actually having a name. His real name's Takeru. It makes sense when you think about it. I told Veemon all about this and about his fictional counterpart, and he just smiled and went on.

Something came that night. There was a rumbling sound. Renamon (the fox-type lady Digimon) was the first to notice, and she went out on the prowl. Actually, she jumped out on a high bluff and looked out over the terrain. I was amazed she could jump that high. I also wondered if Veemon could do the same thing. Rika pulled out her D-Arc and pulled up a profile. "Jagamon, ultimate level plant Digimon that travel in herds." she reported breathlessly. There was just something about her voice at that moment. My gosh...

Renamon started getting desperate. "They're coming right at us. Let's go!" she called as jumped down. Leomon picked up Jeri and Rika in his arms. Renamon picked up Kazu and his pal Kenta with her hands, and I shook Veemon awake. "Huh? Who turned on the vibrator?" he asked, half asleep. "We're in the middle of a stampede, come on!" I shouted. We ran out of the way, but Takato and Guilmon stood there like a deer in front of the headlights of a Plymouth Voyager. Takato got out of the way himself, but he nearly didn't make it. Henry and Guilmon had to pull him in. Meramon fired his Magma Blast, trying to save us, but a group diverted and hit him straight on. He died, and we were blown away.

The next morning, if you could call it that, we built a rock shrine to him. Takato even drew a sketch. He's quite the artist. That day, Kazu tried pulling up some breakfast. It was just a Jagamon. In fact, it was a whole herd of Jagamon. They like burying themselves in the ground like potatoes. It was weird. They also pointed us toward where they thought Makuramon had went. So, we continued walking. That is... until Renamon noticed a data stream... just behind Kazu and Kenta. Who knows where it would've sent us. So, we ran one way and those two went another. Rika and Renamon went right after them. Unfortunately, they didn't make it.

* * *

Kazu

The data stream picked us up and threw us into a pit. "A bottomless pit, no fair!" Kenta whined as we started freefalling. "Man, when you say bottomless you really mean bottomless!" I added. Even in zero gravity, Rika was a grouch. "If we're going to die, the last thing I wanna hear is either one of you," she griped.

Good news was, there was a bottom. Rika tried to get up. "Oh, my back," she groaned. She'd landed on my head. "Your back, my head!" I shot back. Kenta ended up flat on his back. "Do you guys mind? Some people are trying to pass out over here," he said. I couldn't help but agree. "Good idea." "Ugh..."

We laid there for a while, listening to the wind. Suddenly, the wind stopped. I could hear Rika's Digimon. "Uh. Huh? Rika." "Five more minutes. Huh? Renamon."

* * *

Rika

Rika here, and don't you forget it. I looked around, trying to figure out just where we were. "Uh, Renamon, where are we?" I asked. Then, as it always does, it came to me. "Oh wait, I remember, the Digital World." Ended up answering my own question. I spotted something, some kind of a sphere. "Huh! Is that what I think it is?"

Renamon nodded. "Yes, planet Earth."

"But it's so far away. What if we can't ever get back?" I asked. Renamon changed the subject, "The world has changed since I left. Look at how barren it's become." She was right. Nothing but rocks and dirt as far as the eye could see. It looked like a real wasteland.

"Yeah, this is kind of how I pictured the inside of Kazu's head," I commented. Then, I spotted something in the distance. "Wait, are those houses?"

"I believe so," Renamon answered. I couldn't figure them out. "What's on top of them? They look like giant dish towels. I wonder what they're for." "Yes, and I wonder why all the branches on the trees are pointing in one direction," my partner added. I looked, and sure enough, they were.

"I don't know. I've got a really bad feeling about this, Renamon. We've gotta get back to the others, if we can," I said.

Suddenly, I heard this really annoying, loud sound. Renamon had to cover her ears. "What is that horrible sound?" she wondered. "It's like a rusty freight train hauling bagpipes," I added.

We kept walking until we found where the sound was coming from. Sure enough, it was Kazu and Kenta snoring. Should've known. "Are you kidding me? This is _exactly_ why I didn't want them tagging along in the first place. Amateurs! Hey wake up! They both want to be called Digimon Tamers and then, they fall asleep. If they ever do get a Digimon, they might as well just go and order them to jump off a bridge."

* * *

Greg

"That decides it," Henry said with conviction, "We'll just have to work with what we have." He turned to me. "Greg?" "Uh, yeah?" I asked. "You're new here so I'll train you myself," he decided. Veemon and I fist-bumped.

Henry started teaching me how to use the D-Arc in some sort of sparring practice. He started off by taking out his Digivice and pointing it to Veemon. He pushed a button on the side. Looking over his shoulder, I could see a hologram of my partner and his stats. "So it's like a Pokédex?" I asked him. He was speechless. "Uh... yeah," he finally said, "You can discover the other features as you go, but Digi-Modification is really important."

He took out a card from his deck holster and let me look at it. It had a bunch of Japanese writing, but it had some English as well. Next, he grinned and stood back. "Watch this," he said.

He took the card, did a few quick arm movements, then scanned the card through the side of his D-Arc. "Digi-Modify!" he shouted. Then, he finished scanning the card and held it up. "Defense Activate!" Terriermon glowed for a second or two, but that was it.

"That's it?" I asked, "You mean that's actually it?" Henry just had this grin on his face. "Try attacking Terriermon," he hinted. "Oh, right. Veemon, you heard the man!" I shouted. He looked around. "What man? Where?"

He then looked to me, and I facepalmed. "Just attack the bunny, Veemon," I said. Veemon gave a short nod then started running toward Terriermon. "Vee Headbutt!" he called as he tackled into him, but the bunny didn't move! He didn't even feel the hit, but Veemon sure did! In fact, he ended up on his stomach holding his head. I calmly walked over to my fallen friend. "Nice," I commented, "I've got a question, though. Do you have to copy the arm movements?"

Henry shook his head. "Heh, maybe I was showing off," he answered, "All you have to do is scan the card through the side of the D-Arc, call out 'Digi-Modify', the name of the card, and then 'Activate'."

* * *

Henry

Hi there, this is Henry. Wanted to bring you a status report on the newest Tamer, Greg. I've taken him under my wing, so to speak, but there are times I've regretted it. There was the time I taught him the Card Slash technique (which is used to Digi-Modify). I think he gets easily distracted by my movements, because they're so complex. Every time he tried to copy them, he completely missed the scanner and looked sloppy. "You don't have to copy the movements," I said, "Just scan the card." I moved my focus to scanning the card. He did that, but scanned the card just a bit too fast. Then, he scanned it too slowly. Then, he scanned it at just the right speed, but backwards.

"OK, so do you remember how you got Veemon?" I asked him. "Yeah, I scanned the blue card through this," he said. "Great. Just scan the card like you did then." After about an hour of practice just scanning a card, he got it. That's about twice as long as Takato took when I trained him, and he didn't get it that much either at first. At least, he was eager and willing.

* * *

Greg

After a few hours of training, Henry gave me the duty of going hunting. There had to be some food somewhere, so Veemon and I would look for it. When Digimon die, they get deleted (as we learned tragically from Meramon's death). I'd be looking around for communities and sources of food. Plus, if I found the others, I'd bring them back with me.

Takato gave me his backpack to bring back any plants or anything like that. "Ready, Veemon?" I asked my partner. Veemon gave me a thumbs-up. "Ready when you are, Greg," he replied. I pulled out my D-Arc and the DigiEgg of Friendship card. I tried spinning the card around, like I had seen Henry and Takato do, but I dropped it. I looked back, and Takato facepalmed. I picked up the card and decided not to spin it, but scanned it anyway, remembering to shout "Digi-Modify!" I finished scanning the card and held it up to the sky. "DigiEgg of Friendship Activate!" There was about a 3-second delay before the card kicked in. Throwing back to Adventure 02, I quickly added, "DigiArmor Energize!" A beam of light shot out of my Digivice and hit Veemon.

 **ARMOR DIGIVOLUTION_**

Suddenly, a ball of orange light formed around Veemon. "Veemon Armor Digivolve to..." He shouted as his skin peeled off, revealing a navy blue network. The ball he was in transformed into the DigiEgg of Friendship as elements from the egg implanted themselves into the network. What seemed like a few seconds later (it's much faster in reality than it is on TV), Raidramon appeared, along with his name in both Roman letters and katana. "Raidramon, the Storm of Friendship!"

"Very impressive," I said, "However... how'd you get those letters behind you?" Raidramon just glanced at me. "Are you _sure_ you should be asking me that question, Greg?" he asked. His voice sounded different, but I could still tell it was Veemon. There was a much more important question, and that was how to even mount him. I tried jumping on him, but that didn't work. Finally, Raidramon kneeled down and I boarded him. Then, he stood up. I didn't have any spurs, so I gently nudged his side with my shoe. He went off like a space shuttle. My entire upper section was going back and forth trying to keep up.

What seemed like minutes later, I could see a few bushes in the distance. "Hey Raidramon, there's some bushes in the distance," I said. "So?" he inquired. "Well, don't you think we should stop?" I shot back. No sooner after I said that than he stopped, and I landed on my stomach. Luckily, I landed in the bushes. Nothing. I made sure I wasn't hurt, and thankfully I wasn't. So, I got up. "Raidramon, I know this is my first time, but really." He just lowered his head.

We got it worked out, but it took a while. I found some berries and some apples, put them in the backpack, and we rode back. The ride was much smoother once I figured out a system. I just wrapped my legs around my Digimon, used the spike behind me for back support, and held on.

"Man, I wonder how Kazu, Kenta, and Rika are making out," I wondered to myself.

* * *

Rika

We ended up inside the house of these two Digimon. One looked like a short, old man with a long, white beard who wore rags. He carried a staff with a lion's paw at the end. The other was an old, midget woman who wore a robe and carried a robe. I looked them up on my Digivice. "Jijimon, Mega level. Special attack: Claw of Doom. Babamon, Mega level, special attack: Empress Haze. Hey, wow. What do ya know? They're married," I said. "That's right, happily married for forty years, and not so happily for ten after that," Jijimon agreed. Kenta and Kazu laughed nervously.

Babamon finished her sweeping. "Don't listen to this coot, he just likes to hear himself talk. Lock the door already!" she barked. The two of them picked up a nearby piece of wood and talked through it. Jijimon did most of the talking. "That's it, that's it, pick that up. That's good. Put it here, then slide it down and oh that's good." They put it in the holders on the door. Then, they quickly grabbed their sticks and started walking in a circle around each other. "They know what they're doing!" Babamon shouted.

"Don't talk back to me, you evil little shrew! Let me get at cha!" Jijimon shot back. They hit their broom ends against each other. "Everyday the same," Jijimon added. They each put the ends to each other and tried to force the other away. The male Digimon went on, "I love you so much!". Then, the two struck each other. The strikes went back and forth, with both of them swinging and missing. Babamon almost hit Kazu and Kenta, who jumped into Kazu's arms. "Dude, maybe you should lay off my gummy fleas," Kazu grunted, trying to keep him up. Kenta managed to get down.

Jijimon and Babamon chased each other across the room and up the stairs. "Why are they fighting, anyway?" I asked Renamon. "Maybe this is how you'll be when you're old, Rika," she answered. "Heh, very funny, Renamon."

Jijimon chased Babamon down the stairs, shouting, "Come back so I can wallop you already!" Babamon shot back, "Ha! You don't even know what that word _means_!" They went to sparring again. "I love you so much!" Jijimon called.

I thought about breaking it up, but they had to catch their breaths. Well, that made it a lot easier. "Why are you fighting? Are you having a lovers' spat or something?" I asked. Jijimon put down his broom. "It passes the time," he said. I scratched my head. "Passes the time?"

Babamon explained, "What, like you have something better to do when the wind is blowing? Fighting's the best part of entertainment." "Oh, what do you know from best and worst? Well, worst you _know_ , I've had your cooking," Jijimon shot back. Uh-oh, round 3. "You want another swat? Cause I'll swat you so good." "You couldn't swat the broad side of a board!"

I tried to cut in again, "I don't get it. You're happily married, but you fight each other for entertainment?" "My guess is you've never been married," Jijimon answered.

Babamon quickly swept up a spot. "We don't have to fight anymore," she said. "Why, you're leaving me?" Jijimon asked. "We can fight _them_ , fool." "That might be the best idea you've had in years." "You're right."

They turned to us and got in battle position. "Okay Mr. And Mrs. Interlopers, have we got a proposition for _you_!" Jijimon started. "You get to keep us from being bored while the wind blows," Babamon added.

I got in a battle pose while Kazu and Kenta looked like they were about to wet their pants. "Can't we all just watch TV?" the two asked together. Meanwhile, Renamon jumped in front of me. "You'll have to fight me first," she boldly stated.

Our two would-be opponents decided to drop the whole thing. "The yellow one's got spunk, maybe we should just eat," Jijimon decided. "Eh, whatever," Babamon agreed. Then, the two hit their brooms together and skipped away, singing, "We're gonna make some food now, we're gonna make some food now."

That got those two birdbrains interested. "Now these are my kind of Digimon!"

* * *

Greg

Raidramon and I stopped for a minute so we could get this control thing sorted out. I looked over my partner and noticed hole compartments on his sides. "Hmmm..." I mounted him, and put my hand in the compartment. It fit the two sections of my fingers furthest out. I smiled. "Perfect!" I said, "Raidramon, why didn't you tell me about this before?" "I don't know, nobody's ever ridden me before," he said. Suddenly, his stomach rumbled and he powered back down to Veemon. "Whoa!" I ended up landing on my face. I just rested my head in my palm and tapped the ground with the fingers in my other hand. "Are you OK?" Veemon asked. "You know... you could've just _told me_ you power down when you get hungry," I replied.

Well, we found some more berries and stuff, but we needed protein. I checked my Boy Scout handbook. "Hmmm... let's see... finding nuts and berries. ….Doesn't say anything about the Digital World." I put it back. "I could find a couple of wild Digimon and kill them. We could get an In-Training, each," Veemon offered. "Wait, you Digimon hunt other Digimon for food?" "I don't know. Just trying to be helpful, Greg." I patted him on the head. "Right, I don't think we're that desperate, yet," I said.

* * *

Rika

"Well, what are ya waitin' for, the food won't eat itself. Don't get excited, it's nothing special," Jijimon said, bringing us to the table. When he and Babamon finished making dinner, they laid out quite a spread. I was floored. "Holy cow! Nothing special?" I asked in disbelief. "Eh, I told ya we should've made holy cow," Jijimon grumbled.

We dug in. "Yum!" Kenta said as he grabbed a sandwich. Kazu grabbed a longer sub sandwich and added, "Yeah! I'll say!" "Wow, everything looks great," I went on. Renamon bowed her head in appreciation. "Thank you."

Jijimon and Babamon tapped their wine glasses against each other. "Hey!" Then, Jijimon stood up and delivered a toast. "And now, a grape juice toast to the meeting of new friends and now all that other junk." I raised my wine glass. "To new friends," Renamon and I repeated, clinking our glasses. Kazu and Kenta continued to stuff their faces, the animals.

It didn't end there. Babamon continued to make us feel at home. "Later, if you want, you can take a bath," she offered. Jijimon cut in, "They get to take a bath and I don't?" "They won't leave a ring around the tub!" "Hah! You should talk with the leaving of the crumbs in the bed and the couch and just about everywhere else!" "I can't even look at you right now."

I knew that those two lunkheads wouldn't offer to let me go first, so I made it easier on them and gave them first choice. They went in together.

* * *

Kazu

Now in Japan, most people don't have central heating. The only way to heat up and relax is to take a bath. Only catch is, we don't use soap or bubbles in ours. We get all cleaned up before we get in the tub because everybody else has to get a turn using the same water! Kinda weird, huh? Anyway, most people go to hot springs to soak in the water. That's what Kenta and I did, and it was awesome! We even started singing in the bath, with an American country song Kenta and I co-wrote.

* * *

["Soakin' In the Bath"

Music by Paul Gordon & Deddy Tzur

English Lyrics by Seth Walther

Performed by Kazu Shioda (Brad McDonald) & Kenta Kitagawa (Steven Jay Blum)]

 _As Jijimon continues to stoke the fire, we look inside the hot spring room and find Kazu and Kenta up to their necks in water, singing._

 _Kenta:_

 _ **Getting' all pruny!**_

 _Kazu:_

 _ **Like a raisin in Juney!**_

 _Kenta/Kazu:_

 _ **Soakin' in the bath!**_

 _Kazu:_

 _ **Soakin' (**_ _Kenta:_ _ **Soakin' in the bath!) in the baaaaaaaath!**_

 _Kenta:_

 _ **Actin' loony!**_

 _Kazu:_

 _ **Hopin' you stop singin' sooney!**_

" _Hey!" Kenta shouts. The two get into a water fight. We move for a minute to the living room, where Renamon and Rika are standing in front of the fire, each relaxing with a good cup of after-dinner tea. "Good thing we can't hear them singing in here. I thought my ear drums would bleed," Renamon comments._

 _Babamon refills her cup. "By the way, the beds are all made so I won't hear any word about leaving before the morning." "Thank you, that'd be great," Rika says._

 _Babamon goes back to her knitting. "It's so nice to have guests that don't beat each other up, for a change, ya know?" Rika laughs in agreement, smiling. Then, she takes another sip of her tea._

 _Meanwhile, back in the hot springs... the boys have managed to roll their head towels up into makeshift microphones. They're dreadfully off-key._

 _Kazu/Kenta:_

 _ **Bath, bath, bath, bath, bath, baaaaaaaaaath!**_

" _It's been really neat," Kazu starts. "But you lost the beat," Kenta adds. "I can still smell your feet!" "My feet don't smell!"_

 _Kazu/Kenta:_

 _ **BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATHHHHHHHHHH!**_

 _Jijimon has been listening in. We find him clapping his hands and trying to whistle. "Shoot, I never could whistle. Babamon, where's my plastic whistle?" he asks. "Why do you want that?" Babamon calls back. "Listen! Don't talk back to me!"_

* * *

Rika

As soon as those bozos Kazu and Kenta got out, Renamon and I went in. The water felt so warm, so inviting, so... feminine. I hate that word. I really hate that word.

As I sat in the spring, I thought about my life. I thought about who I was. It's so nice to be alone, just Renamon and me. I thought about my mom. Heh, she always wanted me to get into a dress. It didn't help that she was one of the world's most famous models. She tried so hard to be my friend, had this whole "You and Me Against the World" mentality. So, I tested her limits. She's a complete pushover. I don't think she ever got it, and she still doesn't. She even tried to get me involved in the family business. No way! Nobody, and I mean _nobody_ , gets a cheap shot at Rika Nonaka.

I spent a good part of my life trying to be the best at whatever I could get my hands on. Soccer, baseball, tennis, rock-paper-scissors, anything. I'm what you might call a perfectionist. I just tried harder. Of course, I didn't completely switch mentally. I knew who I was, and I made it work. I wanted to create my own unique beauty. Yeah, I've been called a lot of things, but a girly girl isn't one of them.

I picked the Digimon Official Trading Card Game 2 years ago, and became a master at it. I even won a few tournaments. They were calling me the "Digimon Queen". I got my D-Arc about 6 months later, and everyone wanted to be my partner. I picked Renamon because we had the same mission. We wanted to get stronger, so we did. Up until I met Takato and the others, we killed Digimon just to gain their strength. Now, things are different.

A lot of things have happened since then, and I've grown a lot closer to Renamon. I've grown a lot closer to Jeri as well. I wondered if she'd be OK, but then I snapped out of it. After all, the only person you can trust in the end is you and you alone.

"Weird place," I commented. "Better than outside," Renamon said. We listened as the wind blew. From somewhere else, we could hear our hosts fight. "Don't you yell at me!" Babamon shouted. Renamon shook her head. "Well, maybe..."

Babamon even offered me a knit nightgown, but I passed. I kicked off my shoes and fell back into their bed. "Oh yeah. This is the life, lying on a big comfy bed," I said. Then, I yawned. Renamon just sat there on the rug in our room, determined to keep watch. "Rika?" I woke up. "Hm. Yeah?" "I've been thinking." "Uh-oh."

"Very funny." She laid back on the rug and continued, "When the wind dies, we should look for Calumon." I settled back to sleep and tried to reassure her. "I'm sure he's fine."

* * *

Greg

We ended up eating the last of my snacks, but it wasn't enough. So, we got by eating grass and shrubs. "Man, this could use some ketchup," I groaned as I took a bite of a branch. "Greg?" Veemon asked. "Yeah?" "What's ketchup?"

* * *

Rika

The two dead weights acted even weirder than usual the next morning. I could hear them arguing. "You can't be thankful for the food, I'm thankful for the food," Kazu started. "Well why can't we be thankful for the same thing?" Kenta asked. " _Cause_ it makes the bath and all the other stuff feel bad." Suddenly, the wind stopped. "Hey, the wind stopped," Kenta noted.

I decided to get up early so I could search for Calumon. We'd have to strike out and find him or the others soon, or else who knows what would happen? I was stranded with these two... losers who didn't have any Digimon with them. They were dead weight. I didn't even know why Takato invited them along in the first place. Anyway, I was standing outside when I saw something blue, gray, and black coming in the distance. I looked it up on my D-Arc, and Raidramon came up. "Raidramon, an Armor Champion Digimon. The Armor Digivolved form of... Veemon using the DigiEgg of Friendship," I sighed. Why was I not surprised?

* * *

Greg

I figured I would find the others while I was out, so I used the D-Arc's Radar function to track Rika down. This might give me a chance at some friendship with her. After all, you can't help but make friends with the person who saves your life. I found her in front of these mushroom-like huts.

As we were getting closer to Rika, I slowed my Digimon down, like a Cadillac pulling up to a drive-thru. I just flashed one of those cool, somewhat reserved smiles, the smile that says, "Hey babe, what's up?" Rika got one of these giant sweatdrops on her head, I could see it. "Hi there," I greeted her. She didn't give me a chance. "...Haaaaaah. Let me guess, you're Prince Charming and you're here to rescue me," she assumed. I thought about it, and nodded. "Yeah, pretty much," I answered. I carefully got off Raidramon as he powered down. Rika opened the door and shouted, "Renamon! Kazu! Kenta! LET'S GO!" Just then, this short gnome-type Digimon came out. "Now now wait a minute, don't go just yet now," she said, "We haven't had breakfast yet." Veemon's and my ears perked up. "Breakfast?!" we asked at the same time. She invited us in, and started cooking.

Minutes later, there was a whole feast on the table. It wasn't like any breakfast I'd seen. Steamed rice, this weird sticky substance that looked like beans, broiled fish, and this thing called "rolled omelet". It was weird, but delicious.

We stopped to thank our hosts. "Thank you both for all your hospitality," Rika said. "What, so soon you're leaving?" the bearded Digimon (Jijimon, "jiji" being Japanese for "old man") asked. "But you can't go yet, you just got here," the female gnome (Babamon) added. "Yes, we just got here, but now we must go. Our friends are waiting for us. Isn't that right, Rika?" I asked. Rika just nodded. "Domo arigato," I added. Rika, our Digimon, and I started up the stairs, but then turned back. Kazu and Kenta were frozen.

"Are you coming?" Rika asked. Kazu shook his head. "Actually, no. We've gotta ask Jijimon and Babamon something." "Like what?" "You know, like a question," Kenta added.

Rika shook her head. "Ugh! Fine, I don't have time to play twenty questions with you guys. Catch up with us when you can. Greg! I'm putting you in charge of these two bozos. I can take care of myself."

I gave the Scout salute. "Yes, ma'am!" I said. Veemon gave his salute, too. "Ditto!" Rika rolled her eyes and left with Renamon.

Finally, those two "bozos" dropped to their knees and popped the question. "Jijimon, Babamon, will you be our partners?" I looked up their data. Jijimon and Babamon were Mega-levels! I had to step in.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait just a hot second here!" I said, "Kazu, Kenta, do you realize what level these two are at?" I showed them my Digivice. "We know, dude, they're Mega-level. That's why we gotta get them!" Kazu said. Something was not working.

"No, you don't understand. I've watched the show," I said. "What show?" Babamon asked. "It's a cartoon that's getting more and more real by the second. Now, usually, you start off with a Rookie. He or she stays with you for the entire season, possibly life. Then, it Digivolves to Champion, most of the time Ultimate, and if you're Davis, Mega."

"Who's this Davis kid, and why does a Mega-level he get?" Jijimon griped.

Kazu and Kenta just started doing their own thing, pretending to Digi-Modify. "Digi-Modify!" "Digi-Modify!"

Jijimon and Babamon looked to each other. "This is getting better and better. With these kids, we could Digivolve," Jijimon said.

"Is there a level after Mega?" I asked Veemon. He shrugged. "I don't think so."

Kenta tried to close the sale. "So what do ya say, guys? Are we Digimon and Digimon Tamers or what?" "Ooh, Digi-Modify," Jijimon muttered excitedly, doing the action. Suddenly, that gave Kazu an idea. "If I could digivolve you know what I'd be?" he asked. He spent some time thinking about it. "What? Are you gonna tell us or should we start with the guessing?" Jijimon quipped.

All of a sudden, Kazu turned around, put on a cape, and turned his visor backwards. "I'm BlackWarKazumon!" he announced.

I decided to go along with it. "Ooh, do you see that, Veemon? Kazu just Digivolved. Let me look him up." I pulled out my Digivice and pretended to look at it. "Hmmm... 'BlackWarKazumon, Dope level. Special attack: Fartknocker.'" "I wonder what that attack does," Veemon added.

Kenta was next. "Digivolve me now!" So, Babamon "swiped" a card. "Digi-Modify!" "Alright, Kenta digivolve to..." Kenta paused to imagine what he'd look like, then he put on red gloves and wrapped some cloth around his mouth and forehead. "MegaMightyKentamon!"

Again, I went along with the gag. "Well I'll be! There's another one. 'MegaMightyKentamon, level off the _chain_! His special attack is... 'This sucks, Uh-huh-huh.''" "Never heard of that attack before," Veemon said.

The two "Digimon" growled at each other. "Okay, you both make a lot of noise, but can ya fight?" Jijimon wondered. "Yeah, go to it, MegaMightyKentamon," Babamon cheered. "Maga!" "Maga!" Kazu and Kenta backed up and started to punch and hit the air. They got closer and really started fighting.

Then, the two "Tamers" tossed the "Digimon" their sticks, and they really went at it. "Hold everything!" I shouted, as I thrust my hand forward. They stopped. "Babamon, Jijimon, I challenge you two to a Digimon battle. Two on one!" "OK, bring it on!" Babamon agreed. "Prepare your Digimon, I'll see you in five minutes," I said.

I took Veemon to another room and we talked "strategics". "Greg, what are you thinking!? I can't fight them," Veemon grumbled. "Sure, you can. If Beavis and Butt-Head want to pretend like they're Digimon, we'll give them the battle of their lives. Besides, I need the Digi-Modify practice." "Hmmm... OK, but I'm gonna go easy on them. I mean, they're just humans." "Would you rather fight the two Mega-levels?" "No." "Good."

Five minutes later, the battle began. Our game plan was simple: jab and tackle them, then run around until they got tired. "Go for it!" the two old Digimon cheered. Kazu and Kenta- er, BlackWarKazumon and MegaMightyKentamon- started charging towards Veemon. "Playtime's over, boys," I said coolly. I pulled out my D-Arc and drew a card. I spun the card around and dropped it. "Uh huh huh..." I nervously laughed as I picked it up. I decided to try a much simpler approach and just scanned the card, calling out, "Digi-Modify! Hyperspeed Activate!"

With that, Veemon sped up and started running circles around the two. Every now and then, he'd stop and shout, "U can't touch this!" At one point, I called out, "Break it down!" While I went on with the "Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh", Kenta used his special attack. He swept with the broom quickly to spread dust. Still, Veemon managed to grab a hammer and raise it, chanting, "And stop! Hammer time!"

Jijimon and Babamon tried to Digi-Modify their Digimon. Babamon was first. "Digi-Modify! Step on his neck!" Then, it was Jijimon. "Digi-Modify. BURRRRRRRRRRRRRRP!" Of course, they did nothing. "Step aside, and watch how an expert does it!" I called as I took out another card and scanned it. I didn't drop it this time. "Digi-Modify! Targeting Activate!" Veemon's eyes shined for a second and he became more accurate with his hammer attack. Luckily, nobody did any real damage.

I'll admit, it was starting to get fun until Little Miss Killjoy walked in with Renamon. Then, everything stopped, while Kenta and Kazu ran to the sides of their "partners". "What's going on in here?" Renamon demanded to know.

I pointed to the two "Digimon", asking, "You wanted me to take care of Dumb and Dumber, right?" "Hey!" Kazu shot back.

Rika facepalmed. "You don't mean-" I nodded. "I was letting them practice with Veemon." "That's right, you're lookin' at MegaMightyKentamon's new Tamer," Babamon added.

The two took off their costumes while they explained. Kazu went first. "Well there was a little mix up. We were supposed to be the Tamers." "Yeah, but we ended up being the Digimon," Kenta chimed in.

Rika was not having it. "Have you gone totally cuckoo? What about getting home?!" "Oh yeah."

She then turned to me. "As for you, _Scarecrow_ , why don't you go get yourself a brain? Siccing Veemon on two humans." Veemon nervously chuckled and dropped his hammer.

Naturally, I had to go on the defense. "Aww come on, Rika. Don't do me like that. I needed the practice." She wasn't having it. "Well, go practice on somebody else. Now come on, let's get outta here." With that, she, her partner, and Kazu and Kenta started to leave.

However, our hosts wouldn't have it. "Wait! You can't just run off with our partners!" Babamon shouted. Jijimon added, "And anyone who tries to stop our fun gets a noggin knockin'." They ran over with their brooms, but Renamon caught them and moved them back. The two broke the brooms free. Renamon jumped onto the stairs, and Jijimon and Babamon followed. The fox-like Digimon then jumped up and our hosts ended up tumbling down the stairs.

"Thanks again," I called down the stairs. I then turned to Veemon. "Come on, buddy. We better get going." "Uh huh!"

We caught up with the four. "So, you don't want us to take you back?" I asked Rika, who was gathering some sort of cloth. "Nope. I don't know about you, but the four of us are headed back to Japan. You go ahead and do what you want." "But what do I tell Henry?" "He's probably thinking the same thing, too. Hmmm... Has Veemon reached Champion yet?"

"No," Veemon answered. Rika dug through her deck and threw me a card. "Use this. It's a Digivolution card. Go back to Henry when you've gotten stronger. He'll understand." I nodded. "Right." I put the card away, Armor Digivolved Veemon to Raidramon, and left. The last I could see of the two gnome-like Digimon were them chasing Kazu and Kenta.


	5. Chapter 3: Introducing Anya

_Digimon Tamers International: RELOADED_

Written by Greg Palmer

 _Digimon Tamers, Digimon Adventure 02_ , etc. ©1999-2011, 2018 Toei Animation, Akayoshi Hongo, etc.

All Rights Reserved

Chapter 3: Introducing Anya

* * *

Greg

Our training regime was simple. When the lights in the sky turned on, we got up and got ready for the day. That meant finding breakfast. I discovered a unique kind of fruit. I found this out when I picked one from a tree and took a bite. It was awful, like raw meat. In fact, I spit it out and nearly gagged. "Are ya OK, Greg?" Veemon asked with concern. "Yeah... but that apple's rotten," I replied. I looked at where I had taken a bite. It still looked white and fresh. I didn't see any worms. Luckily, my buddy knew what it was. "Oh, that. That's a meat apple. You're supposed to cook it over a fire," he said. So, we worked together to start a fire. I didn't have a lighter, since I didn't smoke.

What I did have was the DigiEgg of Love card, so I pulled that card out along with my D-Arc. I had been practicing every free moment I had, and I developed something of a theory watching the others. The music, the spinning card, the lighting... it was all in the mind. It was all visualization that someone else just happened to see. All I needed to do was focus and visualize myself doing it. For some odd reason, I found it a lot easier to focus here than I did in the real world. So, I pulled out the card and flicked my hand, causing the card to spin. Then, I caught it and scanned it through my D-Arc. "Digi-Modify!" I called as I finished scanning the card. "DigiEgg of Love Activate!"

 **ARMOR DIGIVOLUTION_**

"Veemon Armor Digivolve to..." Veemon shouted as he transformed. He became a red quadrupedal beast with orange stripes and red eyes. His chest as well as the tusks extending near his mouth were sky blue, while his mane was green. His head is covered with a silver armor that looked like the Digi-Egg of Love, while on its forehead was a red version of the Crest of Love with one red curved mark near each side of it. The new Digimon appeared, along with his name in both Roman letters and katana. "Sethmon!"

The DigiEgg of Love was a good fit for Sethmon. He had a face only a mother could love. He also looked lethargic. "Sooooooo, is this it?" he asked in a slow drawl. "Uh... yeah, I guess," I answered. I looked him up on my Digivice. His picture came up on the circle, along with his name. I scanned the image until an English description came up. "'Sethmon, the Armor Digivolved form of Veemon through the Digi-Egg of Love. His Japanese name is Setmon, which comes from the Egyptian God Set. He can let out a powerful storm of heat and pierces his enemies.' Hmm... interesting," I said. "Sooooooo, you want me to cook those apples?" he asked.

I went to go get some more. In minutes, I had a big pile. Sethmon let out a powerful blast of heat and then powered down. Then we got to breakfast. I waited for my meat apple to cool down and then got a bite of it. It tasted just like hamburger! "Hey Veemon, I got hamburger!" I shouted. It was delicious. I took a bite of another one, which ended up tasting like lobster. I tell you, the next 15 minutes were a meat eater's paradise. Now if only they had Oreos.

After breakfast, it became apparent that neither one of us had taken a shower. So we looked for a lake and took a bath. It's awfully hard to do without soap. "Hey Veemon, what do you use for soap?" I asked. "Soap? That's kinda hard to come by here," he replied. He went on, but I noticed something else... or someone else. A beautiful girl... she looked kind of like that Russian girl from _Captain Planet,_ but she wore a long, sweeping dress. She looked like she had a plant with her.

* * *

Anya

Hello. My name is Anya, and I was born Soviet. I come from Russia, where the men are strong and so is the vodka. I do not drink. I was sent to the Digital World by some force I do not know. Luckily, I met Lalamon when I discovered my D-Arc and Blue Card. She has a little leaf on her head that spins around so she can fly. I always bring my deck of Digi-Battle cards, because I am a mistress of the game in my native land. We quickly became agreeable and decided to settle down together as Tamer and Digimon. She has a calming effect on me, and many a night has gone by where she has sung me to sleep. We have an understanding. One would dare even call it a sisterly love.

I was directed to these meat apples. Sunflowmon, Lalamon's Digivolved form, used the power of sunlight to heat them. While I was dining, I looked out over the water, and there was this boy with brown hair taking a swim with his Digimon. I took out my D-Arc and analyzed the Digimon. "Veemon, a Dragon Digimon whose name and design are derived from the letter 'V'. Although it has a mischievous, prank-loving personality, it has another side with a strong sense of justice." How decadent. This boy noticed me, and was seemingly interested. "Khm ... Anya, etot mal'chik tebya interesuyet. Pochemu by tebe ne vstretit'sya s nim? [Hmm... Anya, that boy looks interested in you. Why don't you go meet him?]" Lalamon suggested. "Ochevidno, ne v to vremya kak on razdetyy, [Obviously not while he is unclothed,]" I answered in disgust. I called out to him in my native tongue, "Ey, ty! Amerikanskiy! Pomestite odezhdu na prezhde chem smotret' na menya! [Hey you! American! Put some clothes on before you stare at me!]"

* * *

Greg

I couldn't believe it. This girl had noticed me, and she was shouting something at me. I initially started to get up, but then realized I had no clothes on. "Oh great..." I told my friend. Veemon told me he'd handle it, so he got up. "Uh... yeah, yeah, my Tamer... he's kinda naked right now, but he'll talk to you later!" he shouted. The girl stood there and turned away. The little bud-type Digimon didn't. I quickly got up and headed for a nearby tree where I got dressed.

Minutes later, I went around the lake and went up to the girl. She was very pretty, with long blonde hair. She spoke to me in a strange language, I assume it was Russian. Apparently she wasn't too happy with me. I just smiled. "And what's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

The plant Digimon spoke up. "She asked where on Earth you're from." I gave my Scout salute. "Troop 282, Flower Mound, Texas," I answered proudly.

"Ah, another decadent American," the girl answered, in English. Needless to say, she had a Russian accent. Reminded me of Natasha from _Rocky and Bullwinkle,_ except it was far less pronounced and a bit softer. "Decadent?" I asked.

She spoke again. "Yes, decadent. Undergoing a process of decline or decay, especially in morals." That couldn't be right. "Oh no, ma'am. A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient..." "Please, please, save your routine on someone who cares."

Veemon decided to step in. "Now wait just a minute, lady. Greg's a Boy Scout, and a good guy. I don't know what your problem is, but I can't let you make fun of him like that. And who the hell are you?" I gave him a thumbs-up.

The Russian girl answered, "My name is Anya of Moscow, Russia. This is Lalamon." Lalamon lowered herself and went back up.

I smiled. "So you're a Tamer, too? All right!" I tried high-fiving her, but she wouldn't take it. "So, you fell down rabbit hole, found Blue Card, met Digimon, and here you are?" she asked. I nodded my head.

We got to talking, and she showed me some of her cards. All in strange letters, I assumed it was Russian. "Gee this game must be pretty popular, huh?" I asked her. "More than you know," she replied coolly. I explained to her my situation. She seemed somewhat interested. "Very interesting... so you want to be as strong as your new friend Henry. Then the best way to begin is to battle," she suggested. She got up and moved back to the other side of the lake. "I dunno... are you up to it, Veemon?" I asked. Veemon had this confident look on his face as he clenched his fist.

"You bet I am!" he eagerly answered.

And so, the battle was to begin. The referee would be nature itself. We would go until one of us admitted defeat. The rules were simple. We were allowed only 1 Digivolution card and 3 Digi-Modify cards. "Are you ready over there?" I called to her. "I'm waiting!" she answered back. I got my D-Arc ready, grabbed a card from my bag, and prepared to slash it. I spun the card around... but this time, I heard some music from an electric guitar. I looked around to see where it came from, but I couldn't see anything. While looking for the music, I had dropped my card, so I picked it up and focused again. I spun the card around and caught it, then scanned the card. "Digi-Modify! Digivolution Activate!" I shouted, holding the card up.

 **DIGIVOLUTION_**

It began again, except this time, the network didn't form a DigiEgg. Instead, it formed a regular egg. "Veemon Digivolve To..." Veemon shouted as he transformed. He became a bigger version of himself, very muscular with wings, a horn from the snout and a silver X on his chest. "ExVeemon!"

"Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" I cheered, pumping my fist.

* * *

Anya

It seems that the American's Digimon had become an extremely powerful form of himself, tall as a building, with flapping strong wings, a horn sprouting from the snout and a silver X across his chest. Oy, what will they think of next? I readied my D-Arc. "Lalamon, my budem deystvovat'? [Lalamon, shall we proceed?]" I asked. Lalamon nodded as I took out my card, took a deep breath, and began the Card Slash. "Digi-Modify! Digivolution Aktivirovat'! [Digivolution Activate!]" I called as I positioned myself. Whenever I slash a card, I try to look good. Then again, doesn't everyone?

 **DIGIVOLUTION_**

"Lalamon Digivolve To..." Lalamon echoed as she began her transformation. She grew longer as her face blossomed into a sunflower. She gained a pair of leaf-like wings, a pair of claws, a pair of feet, and a tail. "Sunflowmon!"

* * *

Greg

"A sunflower dragon thing? That's weird," I told myself.

I decided to give ExVeemon a pep talk. "Don't let that sunflower dragon thing fool you!" My partner turned around and gave me a thumbs up, then started going in on the attack.

But first, he called it. "Vee-Laser!" He fired a laser from the X on his chest that hit this... Digimon. Of course, my little Russian beauty had to fight back. She scanned her first card. "Digi-Modify! Скорость активации!" And like that, the flowery dragon became faster in her attacks. She was hitting ExVeemon left and right! "Hey! What card did you play?" I called out to her. "Speed!" she answered.

I quickly checked my somewhat meager deck to see if I had anything to match her. I did. I drew the card, spun it and caught it... and sure enough, the music started again! I ignored it and scanned the card. "Digi-Modify! Stamina Activate!" At that point, ExVeemon's stamina went up and he kept on fighting. I don't know what stamina looks like. All I know is that he didn't fall into the water. The fight went on for about 4 minutes, at least according to my watch. I moved closer to the side so I could see both of them. Anya must have thought the same thing because she joined me to watch.

Finally, I saw it all come to an end. Anya's Digimon fell into the water. "OK, that's enough! Return!" I called to my friend. He came back, triumphant. Anya didn't look that impressed with me. "You could have absorbed Sunflowmon's data," she said coolly. She was right. ExVeemon could've used some of that data. "The reason I didn't destroy you is because you're not my enemy and we just met. I mean, I think we can be friends, right?" I asked as I offered my hand. She accepted it. I knew this would be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Or at least until we got out.

That night, I had the strangest dream. It felt really good, though.

* * *

["You're the One That I Want"

Written by John Farrar

Performed by Greg Logan (Doug Erholtz) and Rika Nonaka (Melissa Fahn), Veemon (Derek Stephen Prince) and Renamon (Mari Devon)

Backing Vocals: Jeri Katou (Bridget Hoffman), Takato Matsuki (Brian Beacock), Henry Wong (Dave Wittenberg), Terriermon (Mona Marshall), Guilmon (Steve Blum), Leomon (Paul St. Peter), Doug Erholtz, Melissa Fahn, Dorothy Elias-Fahn, Steve Blum, Brad McDonald, Olivia Newton-John]

 _The dream begins at the Texas State Fair five years after the series. Somehow, the gang has all moved from Japan to Texas and have just finished their junior year of high school. Takato and Jeri are a couple. The gang meets up at the midway, with Greg wearing a letterman's jacket. "What is this, Halloween?" Terriermon asks. "Uh uh. While you guys were busy playing with your cards, I lettered in football," Greg replies. Terriermon laughs at that. "As what? Benchwarmer?" "Tight end." "Good for you, Greg," Jeri says. Greg smiles. "Thanks."_

 _Suddenly, entering the scene is a very buxom Rika in a skintight, black leather outfit. Greg is absolutely stunned. "Rika!?" he asks. She curls her tongue and says in a rather seductive voice, "Tell me about it, stud." As the music starts up, Greg takes off and throws down his letterman's jacket, revealing a black leather outfit of his own._

 _Greg:_

 _ **I got chills  
They're multiplying  
And I'm losing control  
'Cause the power you're supplying  
It's electrifying! (**_ _Echo:_ _ **It's electrifying! It's electrifying!)**_

 _Greg acts like he's electrocuted and falls to the ground. Rika approaches him and kicks him up with her foot. Greg gets up and the two do this sort of back-and-forth dance._

 _Rika:_

 _ **You better shape up (**_ _Backing:_ _ **Doo doo doo)  
'Cause I need a man (**_ _Backing:_ _ **Doo doo doo)  
And my heart is set on you (**_ _Backing:_ _ **And my heart is set on you)  
You better shape up (**_ _Backing:_ _ **Doo doo doo)  
You better understand (**_ _Backing:_ _ **Doo doo doo)  
To my heart I must be true **_

_Greg:_

 _ **Nothing left  
Nothing left for me to do**_

 _They make their way to a walk-through fun house, with Rika at the top of the entrance stairs and Greg stuck at the bottom. Finally, he makes his way up and the two go inside._ _ **  
**_

 _Rika/Greg:_

 _ **You're the one that I want (**_ _Backing:_ _ **You are the one I want)  
Oo-oo-oo, honey  
The one that I want (**_ _Backing:_ _ **You are the one I want)  
Oo-oo-oo, honey  
The one that I want (**_ _Backing:_ _ **You are the one I want)  
Oo-oo-oo, the one I need (**_ _Backing:_ _ **One I need)  
Oh, yes, indeed (**_ _Backing:_ _ **Yes indeed)**_

 _Meanwhile, Veemon must be having the same fantasy with Renamon, because the two find themselves in the same fun house. Renamon has taken Rika's role as "Sandy", while Veemon is Greg's role of "Danny"._

 _Renamon:_

 _ **If you're filled  
With affection  
You're too shy to convey  
Meditate in my direction  
Feel your way **_

" _YEEOW!" Veemon shouts, jumping back before climbing back up the stairs. The two of them move back and forth on a sections of floor that undulates up and down mechanically. Guilmon, Terriermon, and Leomon look on from the barred windows._

 _Veemon:_

 _ **I better shape up (**_ _Backing:_ _ **Doo doo doo)  
'Cause you need a man (**_ _Backing:_ _ **Doo doo doo)**_

 _Renamon:_

 _ **I need a man  
Who can keep me satisfied **__(Guilmon/Terriermon/Leomon:_ _ **Who can keep her satisfied)**_

 _The two move up a level to another floor trick: This time, a section of floor that slides side-to-side alternating directions._

 _Veemon:_

 _ **I better shape up (**_ _Backing:_ _ **Doo doo doo)  
If I'm gonna prove (**_ _Backing:_ _ **Doo doo doo)**_

 _Renamon:_

 _ **You better prove  
That my faith is justified **_

_Veemon:_

 _ **Are you sure?**_

 _Renamon/Veemon:_

 _ **Yes, I'm sure down deep inside**_ _  
_

 _The two continue on through the fun house. Fun fact: In the original movie, Danny and Sandy traveled backwards through the house. The "barrel" was supposed to be the end, while the "Shake Shack" was the beginning. However, instead of the "Shake Shack", the two Digimon end up in the "barrel", spinning around._

 _Renamon/Veemon_ _:_

 _ **You're the one that I want (**_ _Backing:_ _ **You are the one I want)  
Oo-oo-oo, honey  
The one that I want (**_ _Backing:_ _ **You are the one I want)  
Oo-oo-oo, honey  
The one that I want (**_ _Backing:_ _ **You are the one I want)  
Oo-oo-oo, the one I need (**_ _Backing:_ _ **One I need)  
Oh, yes, indeed (**_ _Backing:_ _ **Yes indeed)**_

 _Back in Greg's fantasy, he and Rika are at the "Shake Shack", recreating that classic scene._

 _Rika/Greg:_

 _ **You're the one that I want (**_ _Backing:_ _ **You are the one I want)  
Oo-oo-oo, honey  
The one that I want (**_ _Backing:_ _ **You are the one I want)  
Oo-oo-oo, honey  
The one that I want (**_ _Backing:_ _ **You are the one I want)  
Oo-oo-oo, the one I need (**_ _Backing:_ _ **One I need)  
Oh, yes, indeed (**_ _Backing:_ _ **Yes indeed)**_

 _This time, we get a split screen of both couples at opposite sides. Meanwhile, the rest of the cast is joining in._

 _Veemon/Renamon/Rika/Greg:_

 _ **You're the one that I want (**_ _Backing:_ _ **You are the one I want)  
Oo-oo-oo, honey  
The one that I want (**_ _Backing:_ _ **You are the one I want)  
Oo-oo-oo, honey  
The one that I want (**_ _Backing:_ _ **You are the one I want)  
Oo-oo-oo, the one I need (**_ _Backing:_ _ **One I need)  
Oh, yes, indeed (**_ _Backing:_ _ **Yes indeed)**_

 _As the song fades, Greg and Rika proceed to do it right then and there. Of course, since Greg at this point is only 12 at this point and has never had sex before, there's a certain vagueness about it. As the dream fades, we see Greg writhing around in his sleep, suddenly awakened by something. He looks down at his pants. Unfortunately, so does Anya. "Decadent," she mutters, shaking her head._


	6. Chapter 4: The Young Man from Cape Town

_Digimon Tamers International: RELOADED_

 _Digimon Tamers, Digimon Adventure 02_ , etc. ©1999-2011, 2018 Toei Animation, Akayoshi Hongo, etc.

All Rights Reserved

Chapter 4: The Young Man from Cape Town

* * *

Greg

The next day started like any other. Breakfast, then training. I really hadn't put much thought into training. I mean, just being in the Digital World on your own should be a challenge. If you've never experienced it, you should. Anyway, Anya sent herself off to find something other than meat apples. Apparently, she was starting to get tired of them. Veemon and Lalamon agreed, so we all went to look. We spent hours searching for something new to put in our stomachs. We found some berries, some figs, some other fruit, and so on. It was enough to make anyone homesick for good cooking, and that was the case with us. Anya started mumbling something in Russian, and I just looked dismally at our supply. Now I'm a big eater, so I knew this wasn't going to be enough for me, let alone the rest of us. "We better keep looking," I suggested. So, we started walking.

We had no TV, no Game Boy, no anything. The D-Arc didn't have anything on it that could be used for entertainment, so we rediscovered the seemingly lost art of conversation. In our talking, we learned a lot about each other. Anya was born in Mordovia, back when it was still part of the USSR. She was about a year younger than me and was just off break from school. She had 2 sisters who were in high school already, both her parents, and a St. Bernard/Doberman half-breed named Boris. "Whoa... a big dog," I remarked. "Da," she agreed, "Mother says we cannot keep him in the house except during the winter." "Oh yeah, the Russian winter. Must be brutal."

The conversation then shifted to the weather, as it always does. Now, keep in mind I was 12 at the time, but my hero Davis had been a bad influence on me. A number of girls back home wouldn't take me up on my advances, so I didn't want to blow it with her. So I didn't bring it up.

"Hey Greg! Look!" Veemon exclaimed as he pointed to a building. It was a building with a sign on top that had Japanese writing on it, and outside was a bird-like Digimon with a bush on his back and a crown on his head. I took out my D-Arc and scanned him, his picture came up. "Hmmm... Deramon, an Bird Digimon, Ultimate Level... Even though he can't fly, his combat level is incredible," I read. He saw us and called out to us. "Welcome, weary travelers! Come get your free food here!" "FREE FOOD!?" Veemon and I shouted in unison. I quickly put away my D-Arc as we ran to the restaurant. Anya and Lalamon followed us. They weren't as fast as we were.

* * *

Anya

I must preface this by saying that I know something about cuisine. True, my family is not fabulously wealthy. We consider ourselves quite bourgeois, actually. Still, I know what appeals to me and what does not.

What the bird-like Digimon known as Deramon served was unlike anything I had experienced before. He started by cooking a pot of noodles and broth. He then served up four bowls and poured the soup in. Then, he threw four eggs into the air and cracked them with his beak. The eggs promptly fell into the hot bowl and poached. I was actually quite impressed with his presentation and applauded as such. "There you have it, my best Tsukimi soba," Deramon proudly advertised. I waited for my egg white to become completely white then grabbed my chopsticks.

Greg, that American, naturally asked, "Excuse me, where's your silverware?" Deramon was not pleased. "Silverware? SILVERWARE!? What kind of a place do you think this is, kid? I don't have silverware! Whatssa matter, you can't use chopsticks like everyone else?" "OK, OK... sheesh." Greg took his chopsticks, but then remembered to say grace. As an Orthodox, I agreed to that. After the blessing was administered, I took a bite.

They say that Russia hides away several bombs. I felt that some of those bombs had found their way inside my mouth and were battering my taste buds. It was far too salty for my taste, and the egg did nothing to help my situation. I promptly spit it out. We all did. "What was that?" Greg demanded to know. That only made the bird Digimon more enraged. "That was my best soba, kid!" he shot back, "How do ya like that? I try doing something nice for these people and they shoot me down."

"I wouldn't call that nice!" Veemon answered. I interjected, "Where shall I begin? There is far too much salt, the egg is undercooked, and the noodles taste like chalk. I would not give this to my family dog." That really set him off. "THEN GET OUT!" He started pecking on us until we left.

At that point, I was feeling most indignant. Everyone was. "Should we attack him?" Veemon asked his Tamer. "Well, he did attack us, but that was only after we insulted his cooking," Greg thought aloud, "Why not? We'll claim it's self-defense." He took out his D-Arc.

* * *

Greg

His food was awful, and when we called him out on it, he nearly pecked us to death! Sheesh, and I thought I had anger issues. I'm sure the powers that be would not mind us wiping the dust off our feet, so to speak. So, I took out a card. "Ready to turn up the heat, Veemon?" I asked my buddy. "Yeah!" Veemon shouted, clenching his fist.

I spun the card around, and this time I heard a voice in my head chanting, _"Digi, MODIFY!"._ I scanned the card through. "Digi-Modify! Heat Activate!" I called. At that point, my partner Digimon's fist ignited. "Aim for the shrub on his back!" I ordered. Veemon went running toward Deramon. As soon as he got up close, he jumped. "Burning Fist!" he shouted as he punched the shrub on his back. The bush ignited and the bird panicked. I quickly ran to get some water to put him out. After all, I didn't want to kill him, just defend myself. I pumped out a bucketful and poured it on top of the burning bush. The flame went out. Deramon breathed a sigh of relief. "What'd you do that for?" he demanded. "You attacked us because we insulted your cooking, which was bad in the first place," I stated.

Deramon asked, "You weren't expecting me to just take it, did you?" That was partially true. The angry bird went on, "You've got a twisted sense of justice, kid. The next time you or your sorry friends show up at my place, I'm jacking up the rates so high your head will spin!" the bird promised. Again he pecked on us until we left, then he closed the place down. "AND STAY OUT!" he added.

"In my country, that is called showing one where the crayfish spend winter," Anya quipped. "Where do they spend the winter?" I asked, not expecting a real answer. She stood there for a moment, thinking about it. "That is a very good question. I will get back to you later with the answer," she replied simply. I rolled my eyes as we went on.

Even though it was bad, I should have finished that soba at the restaurant. When your stomach doesn't feel right, you tend to have a lot of things go through your mind. Things like guilt. "You know, maybe I shouldn't have attacked the guy," I confessed. Anya looked somewhat sympathetic, or indifferent. I really couldn't tell.

Eventually, we arrived at a village with a lot of tents. Seemed like everyone had a tent. We were met at the front of the village by a yellow Digimon wearing a pair of red pants. He didn't look too bright, but he just stood there muttering, "Welcome to Fortuneteller Village." He must have been half asleep. "Fortunetellers? How droll," Anya said. We decided to look around.

"Come get your fortunes told here!" they all shouted, not necessarily at the same time. We wandered into one and found a lizard-like Digimon spinning his head around. "Hey!" he shouted. "Wanna have your fortune told for free?" I shrugged and sat down. "Sure, why not?" He started spinning his head around. "I see... a future in which you have become stronger, in which you have conquered your fears..." "One where I get my own series?" I asked in a gullible hope. "Eh..." The gecko didn't say much. He had to think or spin his head some more. "Come on. We might as well forget it," I relented.

We left the tent and wandered into another one, more of a cafe. The atmosphere was unique, it reminded me of one of those _Indiana Jones_ movies. The tables were filled with Digimon of all kinds just talking and sipping their drinks. In the back corner, though, was a young man, I figure about my age. I took my glasses off and wiped them with my shirt just to get a better view. His clothes looked pretty basic, a smart suit with a tie. The man looked like he walked out of an episode of _Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?_ One thing I did notice that was slightly out of place was his hat. He wore a raspberry beret, the kind you find in a second-hand store. I'm being honest here. He also had a Digimon with him that looked like a red lion. I pulled out my D-Arc to investigate. Its picture came up as I searched for the English text. "Coronamon, a Rookie level Beast Digimon born from the fusion of sun-watching data," I read. "Is he friend or foe?" Anya asked me. "I don't know. Why don't we find out?" I suggested. So, we did.

He looked up. "Yes?" he asked. I started up the conversation. "Eh, hi. You probably don't know us, but we've noticed you've got a Digimon with you." "Izit?" he asked, smiling. "Hmmm?" we asked. "Is it so?" he repeated. "I can see it, can't I?" I asked back, pointing to his Digimon. The boy looked at where I was pointing. "Hmm, so you can," he replied. It went back and forth for some time until we finally introduced ourselves. "Hallo. You must forgive my friend as he does not know how to properly introduce himself. My name is Anya, and this is Greg." "What kind, my name's Ed. This is Coronamon." The lion shyly waved.

"So, where are ya from?" Veemon asked. "You tell me first," Ed answered, looking around. I gave my standard Scout 3-fingered salute. "Troop 282, Flower Mound, Texas," I proudly claimed. "Mordovia," Anya added. Ed took all this in and then spoke. "OK. If you really want to know, I'm from Cape Town, South Africa." "South Africa?" Veemon asked, "Where's that?" "On the southern most point of Africa, near the Cape of Good Hope," Ed replied.

He quickly changed the subject. "One thing you should know about this village, my new friend. Not everyone is who they say they are. Most of them will tell you what you want to hear, and then lead you down a path of ruin. It reminds me of downtown." At that point, I had only one question on my mind. "Did you come to the Digital World dressed like that?" Anya and Lalamon facepalmed. Ed just smiled. "Yeah," he answered. "That is just awesome," I replied. "I can tell where this is going," Lalamon mused.

We spent the next hour or so talking about what had happened over the past few days. He seemed interested. "So, tell us about yourself," Anya invited. Ed just smiled again. "All in good time," he simply said. "Well, will you at least join us, please? We're trying to get out," I explained. He thought about it for a moment. "Nah, I think Coronamon and I are doing fine right where we are. There's no rush. Time seems to move... slower, here. I like that. I might catch up with you two later."

I couldn't believe it. "Aww come on, I haven't even seen you in action. You're just so... cool." He got up and started walking away. "So I've heard," he said just before he left.

* * *

Ed

Hello. My name's Ed, and I'm many things to many people. Some have called me a heartthrob, a _boykie,_ even a star. I never asked to be any of those.

I'm currently one of the lead performers on a show called _Harmony Street,_ about a group of kids in Cape Town who have their own rock band and their own club. It used to be a run-down movie theater, but the neighborhood kids renovated it to become a hangout of sorts. Don't ask me how or why, it's not important. Right now, it's the hottest program on M-Net's block for children. They licensed the format from a man in America. Don't ask me who the man is. I just do what they tell me to do.

How did I get to the Digital World? I can't completely answer that question. That day I was practicing a number for the show with the people that have grown to become my "friends". Ha, that's a laugh. I had to use the loo, and sure enough, I saw an array of lights in my trailer. I felt myself falling, and I landed somewhere. All I know for sure is that I own a cherry-red-and-black Digivice and my partner is Coronamon.

* * *

Greg

After Ed left the cafe, we followed him. I thought he was the coolest Tamer I'd ever met, maybe even cooler than Henry. Eh... Henry! Oh man, I forgot! I remembered that I was supposed to find food for them. On the other hand, Rika told me not to come back until I was as strong as he was. "Oh great... Anya, do you have a laptop on you?" I asked. Anya checked in her bag. "I regret to inform you that I have nothing," she replied. "Ugh... why do you have to be so formal?" She thought about that. "I don't know," she answered. "Geez, somebody's got to teach you how to lighten up," I shot back.

We used the Radar feature to follow him to a village that was quite a ways off. Along the way, we had to deal with food, so it was back to the meat apples and berries. "Greg, why don't we take some of these meat apples back to the others?" Veemon suggested. "That's a great idea, man." So, we left behind some non-essentials and packed our bags as much as we could with the apples. By the time we reached the village, it was getting dark. So we settled down for the night.

The next morning, we had breakfast as usual. I discovered that the water in the Digital World is about as useful for brushing teeth as the water is back home. We started wandering around the village, where we saw these rock-like Digimon called Gotsumon.

We spotted Ed and tracked him down to some ruins that looked like giant heads. Veemon and I stood there amazed at the stone faces. Anya didn't have a laptop, but she had a digital camera. It was a Canon, to be exact. We took some photos, and then went right back to tracking him. We quickly figured out he had climbed up. I wasn't that adventurous, so we digivolved our Digimon and went up. We finally found him in a cave singing "I'll Never Break Your Heart" by the Backstreet Boys.

* * *

["I'll Never Break Your Heart"

Written by Eugene Wilde & Albert Manno

Performed by Backworld Boys (Ed Jordan-Phillips [Vic Mignogna], Coronamon [Andrew Rannells], Datamon [Tom Fahn], Bakumon [Crispin Freeman], Beetlemon [Steven J. Blum, singing voice by Howie D.])]

 _A Honeybeemon plays the introduction on a nearby piano. Beetlemon delivers the spoken introduction._ _"Baby, I know you're hurting. Right now you feel like you could never love again. Now all I ask, is for a chance, to prove that I love you." The group then operates the area like a stage. Ed is taking over Brian's part, with Coronamon taking AJ's part._

 _Coronamon:_

 _ **From the first day  
That I saw your smiling face  
Honey, I knew that we would  
Be together forever **_

_Ed:_

 _ **Ooh, when I asked you out  
You said no but I found out  
Darling that you'd been hurt  
You felt like you'd never love again **_

_**I deserve a try, honey, just once  
Give me a chance and I'll prove this all wrong **_

_Coronamon:_

 _ **You walked in, you were so quick to judge  
But honey, he's nothing like me **_

_Ed conducts the group of singers, most of whom have to look at the sheet music every once in a while. Ed tries to add in the countermelodies, but seems to have trouble remembering them all, so he skips the ones he can't get to._

 _Group:_

 _ **I'll never break your heart  
I'll never make you cry  
I'd rather die than live without you  
I'll give you all of me (**_ _Ed:_ _ **give you all of me)  
Honey, that's no lie (**_ _Ed:_ _ **that's no lie)**_

 _ **I'll never break your heart  
I'll never make you cry  
I'd rather die than live without you  
I'll give you all of me  
Honey, that's no lie **_

_Coronamon:_

 _ **As time goes by  
You will get to know me  
A little more better  
Girl that's the way love goes baby, baby **_

_Ed:_

 _ **And I (**_ _Group:_ _ **I) know you're afraid (**_ _Group:_ _ **know you're afraid)  
To let your feelings show (**_ _Group:_ _ **feelings show)  
And I (**_ _Group:_ _ **understand)  
But girl, it's time to let go (**_ _Group:_ _ **girl, it's time to let go because)**_

 _ **I deserve a try (**_ _Group:_ _ **try) honey  
Just once (**_ _Group:_ _ **once)  
Give me a chance (**_ _Group:_ _ **chance) and I'll prove this all wrong (**_ _Group:_ _ **wrong you walked)**_

 _Coronamon:_

 _ **You walked in, you were so quick to judge (**_ _Group:_ _ **quick to judge)**_

 _Group:_

 _ **But honey he's nothing like me  
Darling, why can't you see?**_

 _ **I'll never break your heart  
I'll never make you cry (**_ _Beetlemon:_ _ **make you cry)  
I'd (**_ _Beetlemon:_ _ **I'd**_ _)_ _ **rather die (**_ _Beetlemon:_ _ **rather die**_ _)_ _ **than live without (**_ _Beetlemon:_ _ **die than live without you, girl**_ _)_ _ **you  
I'll give you all of me (**_ _Coronamon:_ _ **give you all of me)  
Honey, that's no lie (**_ _Coronamon:_ _ **Baby)**_

 _ **I'll never break your heart  
I'll never make you cry (**_ _Ed:_ _ **I'll never make you cry)  
I'd rather die than live without (**_ _Ed:_ _ **can't live without you**_ _ **) you  
I'll give you all of me  
Honey, that's no lie **_

_As you can hear, it's falling to pieces._

 _Ed:_

 _ **I'll never break your heart**_

 _Group:_

 _ **No way, no how**_ _(Coronamon:_ _ **I'll never break your heart; girl, I'll never make you cry)  
I swear (**_ _Ed:_ _ **Oh I, oh I, I swear)  
No way, no how**_

 _ **(**_ _Ed:_ _ **No way, no how)**_

 _ **I'll never break your heart  
(**_ _Coronamon:_ _ **I would never do that to you baby)**_

 _ **I'll never make you cry  
**_ _(Ed:_ _ **Oh just give me a chance I'll show you how much I love you)  
I'd rather die than live without you  
I'll give you all of me (**_ _Ed:_ _ **I would give you the world, if you're mine girl)  
**_ _(Coronamon:_ _ **I'll never, I'll never)**_

 _ **I'll never break your heart**_

 _(Ed:_ _ **I'll never, I'll never)  
I'll never make you cry  
I'd rather die than live without you  
I'll give you all of me, honey, that's no lie  
(**_ _Coronamon:_ _ **oh I miss you I want you I need you in my life)  
(**_ _Ed:_ _ **I said he could never do the things that I can do for you...)**_

 _At that point, the song starts to fall apart. Ed throws down his hat and mutters South African profanities in frustration._

* * *

Ed

Damn. They had found me out. Oh well, it didn't matter. This was a rather difficult song, what with all the countless countermelodies and intricate parts. The arrangement was far too difficult for mere teenagers, and the bridge was where I kept falling apart. I turned to my group. "Better, but not by much. Thank you all. Keep practicing," I directed. The group went on their way, and I turned my attention to the American.

"Didn't know you were into the Backstreet Boys," he said. "Who are the Backstreet Boys, Greg?" his Digimon asked from outside. "The most overrated boy band in the world, second only to N'Sync," I described in a deadpan. Coronamon got in front of me, ready to strike if necessary. I picked up my hat and put it back on.

Their Digimon got close enough to where the humans could jump off. "So I take it you want a fight?" I asked them. "If you don't mind. I'd like to see what you've got," Greg challenged, smiling. I shot a grin right back at him. "Sure thing."

I didn't want to desecrate the ruins. Coronamon would've had a fit if I did. So, we took rides on their Digimon down to the bottom and found an empty field nearby. "You already have your Digimon digivolved, I'm guessing. So, I better boost mine," I told my opponent.

I then called out to my partner. "Coronamon! How are you doing?" "I'm hundreds," he answered. Well he was going to feel more than that after this. I took my D-Arc, pulled out a card, and prepared the Card Slash. "Digi-Modify! Digivolution Activate!"

[BGM: "EVO" by Wild Child Bound]

 **DIGIVOLUTION_**

"Coronamon Digivolve to..." My partner stood there ready for his skin to peel off as he began to digivolve. He became longer and more quadruped. He shot out of his cocoon of sorts in a burst of flame. "Firamon!"

* * *

Lalamon

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. This is Lalamon with the report on the match between the South African singer Ed and his Firamon and the upstart American Greg and his ExVeemon. And what a match it was!

Ed mounted his Digimon, Anya brought down her hand, and the fight began! "Fira Bomb!" Firamon shouted as he used his full power to shoot fire bombs from his forehead. ExVeemon came in with a powerful punch right to the face. OUCH! "Yeah! Give it to him!" Greg cheered as he prepared to use the first of 3 cards. "Digi-Modify! Speed Activate!" he shouted as he slashed. ExVeemon sped up as he punched faster and faster. Ed reached for one of his cards as well. "Two can play that tune. Digi-Modify! Hyperspeed Activate!" Firamon sped up as well and darted away. The battle went forward left and right, with no one giving an inch. After about 15 minutes, ExVeemon had this to report: "Hey Greg... he's tough! I don't know how much more I can take of this." The Tamer let his card do the talking. "Digi-Modify! Armor Activate!" At that point, ExVeemon's arm was equipped with a pilebunker and he started punching away again. Firamon flew up high. "Hold on tight, Ed. I'm giving it everything I've got," he warned as Ed held on. "FLAME DIVE!" He covered his whole body with fire and comes down quickly from the sky to tackle ExVeemon. "Dodge it!" Greg shouted! ExVeemon quickly dodged the attack as Firamon seemingly dove down to the ground face first. POW!

* * *

Greg

As the dust settled, Anya and I rushed to the scene. Ed and Coronamon were lying on their sides, panting. I'll admit, I could feel my heart racing a bit myself. That battle was intense. A normal person watching on TV wouldn't think it would mean anything to the DigiDestined, with him standing on the sidelines swiping cards and shouting at the top of his lungs. I started feeling it more and more as the battle progressed. I guess this must be how Ash feels every time he has an intense Pokémon battle.

As ExVeemon came back down to terra firma, he dedigivolved and fell on his back. The only thing keeping his back from fully touching the dirt was his tail. I helped Ed up as he dusted himself off. "Well, that was interesting," he noted. "So I'm guessing you're going to be joining us?" I asked. He thought about it for a moment, then smiled. "I guess, for now," he said. We shook hands, but just as we were about to release our grips... "GUYS!" Anya caught our attention as a pink beam came from out of the sky... and it was headed right toward us! "It's headed right for us! Grab your stuff!" Veemon shouted as he tried to get up. We raced to our bags and started running... but it was too late.

* * *

Anya

Floating around in space is not what it is cracked up to be. Neither is being sucked up in a data stream. We demonstrated Issac Newton's theory of gravity very well. We went up, and then straight down somewhere else. The natural reaction when falling at an unknown distance and speed is screaming. That is just what we did. As we reached closer and closer to the surface, I couldn't help but wander, "Is this the end?" I saw a faint light...

 **DIGIVOLUTION_**

* * *

Tsukimi soba ("moon-viewing soba"): Topped with raw egg, which poaches in the hot soup.

"Izit?" (pronounced: \izit\\) the words "is" and "it" put together. Short term for "Is that so?" Also, it can mean "really?"

"What kind": South African greeting similar to Howzit

boykie- meaning a young white male who is cool in the high-school stereotype kind of way. Sporty and tanned, uses a lot of slang. From English "boy" and the Afrikaans "-tjie" meaning little.

M-Net: a subscription-funded television channel in South Africa

hundreds: good, fine. (As in 100 percent)


End file.
